Stunning Steph

Stunning Steph

International squash star Stephanie Brind kept her nerve and composure to help England win a world championship for the first time in nine years, writes Roger Wright.

Stephanie, 23, from Chieveley Road, Bexleyheath, played a

crucial part in the Senior Squash World Championships in Sheffield, winning the deciding game in both the semi and the final.

The event takes place every two years in a different country and

21 nations were in contention this year in Sheffield.

The English team squad of Stephanie, Linda Charman, Tania

Bailey and Rebecca Macree were in fine form from the start. They whitewashed the three teams in their pool, Hong Kong, Brazil and Italy 3-0.

In the last 16, they played Malaysia and again won 3-0. It was the same score in the quarter-finals against Canada.

New Zealand, their opponents in the semi-final, offered some resistance and after two matches the scores were level.

Enter Stephanie. She won the deciding match to put

England through to the final against Australia.

With the scores level at 1-1, Stephanie, who is ranked

seventh in Britain and 13th in the world, was once again called up to play the decider.

She won the first two sets 9-6. 9-4, but then lost the third game 0-9.

I was down three-nil in the fourth game, but managed to

regain my composure and won the next nine points to secure the gold medal.

Stephanies mother, Pauline, said: As you can imagine, the atmosphere was electric, and the home crowd were really cheering her on.

I know my heart was beating a bit fast at times.

A former pupil at Bexley Grammar School, Stephanie has been a member of the Bexley Lawn Tennis and Squash Rackets Club since she was 14. Club spokesman Derrick Haines, said that Stephanie was the best squash player the club has ever produced. We are really proud of her. She is a tremendous player.

This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's Editors' Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then please contact the editor here. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can contact IPSO here